Publications
The Paradoxes of Decarbonation: When Green Solutions Produce Unintended Consequences. September 2024
Although decarbonization innovations may seem promising, they can have a deleterious domino effect. This paradox demonstrates that ecological solutions, however well-intentioned, can have unforeseen negative consequences, making the decarbonization mission extremely complex and the accompanying communication perilous.
Artificial Intelligence or Emotional Intelligence ?
Numerous publications focus on the role that artificial intelligence will play in the future of all professions, including procurement. However, emotional intelligence, which enables us to build relationships and create commercial value, remains an irreplaceable...
For the first time, a state is condemned for climate inaction. April 9, 2024
On Tuesday April 9, the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) made history by condemning Switzerland for violating the European Convention on Human Rights. This decision follows a complaint denouncing the inadequacies of the Swiss authorities in their fight against...
The EU on the way to banning forced labor. March 8, 2024
In January this year, the Council and the European Parliament reached a crucial agreement on banning forced labor products from the EU market. The provisional agreement must now be approved and formally adopted by both institutions. This agreement represents a...
Regenerative Procurement is the new Procurement. Feb 27, 2024
Regenerative Procurement is the new Procurement Good Procurement Practices taught and followed for decades have dug the bed of some of the major problems we face today. A procuremen department is expected to multiply its calls for tender. However, this is a method...
EU Parliament Outlaws Deceptive Environmental Statements in Greenwashing Crackdown
In an increasing effort to combat misleading environmental claims and promote transparency, the European Parliament has recently passed significant legislation. This new law aims to establish stricter standards for environmental advertising and product sustainability.
AI : What will remain to the Procurement function?
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Mapping your supplier eco-system is a must : American and French companies dealing with DIY products suspected of using forced labor
A new example of alleged use of forced labor reminds of the importance of implementing ethical procurement methods. AI could come to the rescue of procurement departments striving for transparency in their supplier eco-system.
Ex-Best Procurement Practice : the Low Cost Country (LCC) sourcing. How to give back to the supplier ecosystem by implementing the Regenerative Procurement methodology
This is the first article of a serie dedicated to “Best Procurement Practices” I have announced in my previous article entitled “Regenerative Procurement is the new Procurement”. In this article I am going to discuss the Low Cost Country sourcing method.
Regenerative Procurement is the new Procurement
The Regenerative Procurement objective is to propose an alternative approach to the application of an ESG “layer” on methods that have led to yesterday’s economic successes, but also to today’s environmental and societal disasters
No fight against climate change without respect for human rights.
It’s important to realize the extent to which human rights violations on the other side of the world and environmental damage are linked. We cannot hope to combat climate change while neglecting the human rights of our foreign suppliers.
European Parliament vote in favor of Duty of Care Directive: Procurement Departments and AI on the front line. April 26, 2024
The directive marks an additional and complementary step to the reporting obligation imposed by the CSRD (Corporate Responsibility Reporting Directive). Companies will no longer simply have to report their extra-financial performance, but must also take into account...
The CS3D directive, aimed at imposing an obligation of social and environmental protection, is on the way to becoming a reality. March 17, 2024
Following the adoption of the CSRD (Corporate Sustainability Reporting Directive), which came into force on January 1, 2024, the compromise on the European directive on corporate responsibility for human and environmental rights was approved today by the member states...
When buying cheaper always ends up damaging the planet. Published in l’Opinion, January 30, 2024
For decades now, procurement departments have been focused on mainly delivering price reductions. When only price counts, it’s the planet that “takes the hit”, as I expressed in my January 30 article published in the French newspaper L’Opinion.
LVMH leads by example and involves its suppliers in its environmental strategy
“To achieve our ambitious scope 3 objectives in terms of both carbon emissions and impact on water and biodiversity, the mobilization of suppliers is essential,” says the Director of Environmental Development.
Everything you always wanted to know about Procurement (but were afraid to ask)
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A summary of the forthcoming EU new legislation on packagings: although the objective remains clear, many challenges remain.
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CSRD for Dummies. Published November 2023
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Ex-Best Procurement Practices : these are the reasons why issuing invitations to tender worsens companies’ societal and environmental impact
This is the second article of a serie dedicated to “Best Procurement Practices” I have announced in a series entitled “Generative Procurement is the new Procurement”. In this article I am discussing the tendering process
Economic Sovereignty: a unique opportunity for supplier innovation ? Article published in Les Echos, August 3, 2020
History shows us that withdrawal impoverishes countries and spirits. At the 1849 Peace Congress, Victor Hugo uttered this divinatory phrase:
“The day will come when there will be no battlefields other than markets opening to trade and minds opening to ideas…”. Relocating production is not only illusory, it’s also dangerous. Only innovation will enable to reseed industrial ecosystem, and the environmental conversion that is finally taking place is an opportunity not to be missed.
“For a restorative procurement policy” Published in Le Monde on May 16, 2023
While the CSRD is being implemented, the practice of regenerative procurement allows companies to improve their financial and non-financial results. Imagining new virtuous approaches that go beyond the deleterious practices of excessive competition should contribute to regenerating, day after day, the ecosystem of companies, and therefore the environment and society.
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to weigh on world trade, the inversion of the balance of power between companies and their suppliers, which is responsible for the rise in costs, could become sustainable. Article published in Le Monde on November 5, 2021
Could we have foreseen that the Covid crisis, which had already damaged value chains in the winter of 2020, would continue to severely disrupt the entire global industry? Companies built their 2021 budgets on the assumption that the crisis would only last a few months, until everything was back to normal and everyone was back to their old lives
Covid 19, one year later : “The environmental and societal crisis obliges companies to privilege investment in tailor-made solutions”. Published in Le Monde on March 5, 2021
While the prospects for a resumption of growth in 2021 remain hypothetical due to the resurgence of contagiousness of the virus and the uncertainties of the vaccine strategy, companies have no choice but to submit to the hard law of uncertainty by developing flexibility and reactivity
We will need a drastic change in the way we source our suppliers. Published in Le Monde, March 11, 2020
Decades of buying strategies driven by the only objective of reducing costs have rendered companies vulnerable to all kinds of pandemics such as the one of Covid-19.
Procurement departments face the need for « moral renewal”. The support of top management will remain decisive, which raises the question of the place of procurement in the executive committees. Published on May 2023
In the early 2000s, the American gas company Enron inflated its profits and concealed its losses in order to increase its value on the stock market, precipitating its bankruptcy, leaving 20,000 employees out of work and destroying millions of dollars in pension funds....
The Procurement Department at the forefront of sustainable development initiatives. Published on May 2023
Procurement departments are responsible for orchestrating collaboration with suppliers to optimize their environmental impact. One piece of information has received very little coverage. Over and above all the extra-financial reports issued by companies on the impact...
Reputation risk management: paying attention to weak signals. Published on May 2023
It's surprising that established, respected companies should find themselves under the media spotlight and the opprobrium of public opinion for actions or practices that touch on the hypersensitive issues of the moment: forced child labor, discrimination,...
The opinions expressed are strictly personal
Overcoming the Unexpected, Shaping the Future: Building Resilience through Procurement
RGN Advisory
Embedding ESG and AI into Procurement